1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical disc recording/reproducing apparatus for recording information onto a rewritable optical disc such as a DVD-RW (DVD-Rewritable).
2. Description of the Background Art
Conventionally, in DVDs (Digital Versatile Discs) as a large capacity optical disc, there have been provided, as an information writable optical disc, a DVD-R (DVD-Recordable) in which data can be written only once, a DVD-RW (DVD-Rewritable) in which data can be additionally written, a DVD-RAM (DVD-Random Access Memory), and the like.
Herein, in the case where information such as a movie (generally also referred to as contents) is recorded on an optical disc having a high recording capacity, recording modes therefor are broadly divided into the following two modes.
One mode is a sequential recording mode for sequentially recording data. With this sequential recording mode, it is possible to sequentially record data from an inner circumferential side to an outer peripheral side of an optical disc.
The other mode is a restricted over write mode (hereinafter, simply referred to as “ROW mode”) which is randomly accessible. With this restricted over write mode, it is possible to randomly record data at a recording region of an optical disc.
The sequential recording mode is further divided into two modes: a disc at once mode (hereinafter, simply referred to as “DAO mode”), and an incremental recording mode (hereinafter, simply referred to as “INC mode”).
Both the DAO mode and INC mode are the sequential recording mode, that can perform data recording without performing a so-called finalizing process (a process for recording initial value data, e.g., setting all data on a disc to null (zero)) because data is sequentially recorded from an inner circumferential side to an outer peripheral side of a disc as described above. Accordingly, the DAO mode and the INC mode have an advantage that recording can be immediately performed without provision of a preparation time for recording.
These recording modes are controlled by a program such as writing software of a recording/reproducing apparatus. Any one of these recording modes is selected by a user or an administrator and is recorded in an optical disc. The selected recording mode is recorded in a management region for recording management information on an inner circumferential side of the optical disc.
In general, a management region of an optical disc is determined in accordance with standards for the purpose of securing compatibility. For example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2003-331526 discloses a technique for recording management information and the like other than management information determined in a management region in accordance with standards, thereby recording/reproducing various extension files and the like onto/from an optical disc.
In the case where management information regarding a recording mode is temporarily recorded in a management region, however, a recording/reproducing apparatus reproduces information regarding the recording mode recorded in the management information, and determines whether or not data can be additionally written onto an unrecorded region on the basis of the reproduction result. Therefore, the data cannot be recorded with the use of quite different recording mode.
Accordingly, in the case where data is recorded with the use of the DAO mode or the INC mode that requires no preparation period for recording with respect to a DVD-RW, if there arises a necessity of overwriting later, the recorded data must be erased. Therefore, a time for erasing the data must be secured. That is, there is a problem that it takes much time to prepare for rerecording.
On the other hand, in the case where overwriting must be executed from the beginning, it is sufficient that data is recorded in a so-called ROW mode. However, since a finalizing process must be performed at first as described above, there is a problem that it takes much time to prepare for recording. That is, in the case where overwriting must be performed, a predetermined preparation period must be provided in any recording modes.